Guest Editorial: It’s right that Black is back

In allowing Conrad Black to return to Canada after he leaves a Florida prison, the federal government is doing nothing out of the ordinary and is not according Black special treatment.Shame on NDP leader Thomas Mulcair, for not only making it seem otherwise, but for pathetically playing the race card when he compared Black’s case to that of a black man, Gary Freeman, who has been refused re-entry to Canada because he pleaded guilty to shooting a police officer in the arm in 1969.

“It’s a clear case of a double standard, one for an American black man from Chicago, another for a British white man coming out of federal penitentiary,” Mulcair said.

Race has nothing to do with it, and it is appalling that Mulcair would stoop so low as to claim it does.

This was a bureaucratic decision that was based on federal immigration rules covering the issuance of temporary residence permits to foreign nationals — about 10,000 of whom apply each year for entry to Canada.

According to Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, a sizable number of those applications are approved for people with criminal records. Black was just one of those applicants.

The rules clearly state that foreign nationals convicted of crimes may enter the country on temporary residence permits if their offences were non-violent, if they have a low risk of reoffending, and if they pose no hazard to the public. They also need to have long-term ties to Canada, such as owning property or a business here, and having family here.

Black was found guilty of a white-collar crime, not a violent offence. Gary Freeman, whose case Mulcair cited as analogous, committed a violent crime. After living in Canada for more than three decades, he was extradited to the U.S. four years ago, where he pleaded guilty to aggravated battery in a 1969 incident in Chicago, during which he shot a police officer in the arm. He served two years in prison, tried to re-enter Canada upon release, and was refused.

It may well be time for immigration authorities to revisit Freeman’s case, given that the federal government’s report on him — obtained by his Toronto lawyer, Barbara Jackman, via an access to information request — assesses him as no risk to public safety, but this has nothing to do with Black’s own case.

Black meets the requirements in other ways, too. He has long-standing links with Canada, including a wife, children and a home in Toronto, and a long history of business ownership here. True, he renounced his Canadian citizenship, but that is not a crime, and there are regulations in place to deal with the situation if he seeks to reinstate it.

Interim Liberal leader Bob Rae said he was worried that Black’s case might be a precedent-setter that will inspire other criminals to try to re-enter Canada. Rae is wrong. Black sets no precedent; the process has been in place for years, and Black was just one of 10,000 others in the lineup this year. Next!